American
Revolutionary War;
To most people, war between England and the
American colonies appeared inevitable as early as 1774. All through
the summer of that year Samuel Adams
described this as his belief.
Joseph Hawley, of Massachusetts, submitted to the delegation from
his colony, in the First Continental Congress,
some wise "hints," which started with : "We must fight, if
we cannot otherwise rid ourselves of British taxation. There is not
heart enough yet for battle," and, " Constant and a sort of
negative resistance to government will increase the heat and blow
the fire. There is not military skill enough. That is improving, and
must be encouraged and improved, but will daily increase. Fight we
must, finally, unless Britain retreats." When
John Adams read these
words to Patrick Henry, the latter exclaimed, "I am
of that man's mind!" All the summer and fall of 1774 the people,
impressed with this idea, began having military exercises,
especially in Massachusetts. The people prepared for war.
The Provincial Convention of Massachusetts appropriated $60,000 for
war preparations, and experienced soldiers from the French and Indian War were
recruited to be officers of the militia. Mills were erected for
the manufacture of gunpowder, and establishments were set up for
making drills. Encouragement was given to the production of
saltpeter, which was needed for the manufacture of gunpowder. In December, 1774, the Massachusetts Provincial
Congress authorized the enrolment of 12,000 minutemen. Very soon
there was an invisible yet enthusiastic army of determined patriots, ready to
confront any further coercion from Great Britain.

Towards the close of 1774 the King issued a proclamation prohibiting
the exportation, from Great Britain, of military supplies. As soon as
the proclamation reached America it created great agitation.
Preparations were made for the manufacture of military supplies. The Assembly of
Rhode Island passed resolutions for
securing arms and military supplies.
Forty cannon were removed from the battery at Newport,
that they might not be used by the government authorities. At
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a similar movement had taken place.
Paul Revere
had been sent there expressly, by a committee at Boston, with the
King's order and an account of the proceedings of a meeting in the
New England capital. On the following day about 400 men went to
Castle William and Mary, at the entrance to
Boston Harbor, took control of
it, broke open the powderhouse, and hauled away more than 100
barrels of gunpowder. Governor Hutchinson having reported that the
military power was insufficient in Massachusetts, because no civil
officer would sanction its employment, the crown lawyers decided
that such power belonged to the governor; and Lord Dartmouth,
secretary of state for the colonies, ordered
General Gage, in case
the inhabitants should not obey his commands, to bid the troops to
fire upon them at his discretion. He was assured that all trials of
officers or troops in America for murder would, by a recent act, be
removed to England.

The bloodshed at Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775), stirred
the colonies as never before. There was a
spontaneous resolution to surround Boston with an
army of Provincials
that should confine the British to the peninsula.
New Hampshire voted 2,000 men, with Folsom and
Stark as chief
commanders. Connecticut voted 6,000, with Spencer as chief and
Putnam as second. Rhode Island voted 1,500, with
Greene as their
leader; and Massachusetts voted 13,600 men. From the hills and valleys of
New England the patriots went
out by the hundreds, armed and
unarmed, and before the close of the month —in the space of ten
days—an army of 20,000 men were forming camps and piling
fortifications around Boston, from Roxbury to the river Mystic. The
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, with
Joseph Warren at its
head, worked day and night.
They appointed military officers; issued
bills of credit for the payment of the troops to the amount of
$375,000, and declared (May 5) General Gage to be an
enemy of the people. As the news of the Battle of Lexington and
Concord went
from colony to colony, the people in each were equally aroused. With
the hottest haste, it did not reach Charleston, S. C., under twenty
days. Arms and ammunition were seized in various places by the
Sons
of Liberty; provincial congresses were formed, and, before the
close of summer, the power of every royal governor from
Massachusetts to Georgia was utterly destroyed. Everywhere the
colonists armed in defense of their liberties, and made preparations for their security.

When the Congress had decided on armed resistance in the late
spring of 1775, the pulpit, the bar, and the press united in
encouraging the people to be firm in their opposition. The clergy of
New England were a zealous, learned, numerous, and widely
influential group of patriots. They connected religion and
patriotism, and in their prayers and sermons represented the cause
of America as the cause of Heaven. The Presbyterian synods of
New
York and Philadelphia sent out a letter which was
read in all their churches. This recommended such
sentiments and conduct as were suitable to the situation. Publicists
and journalists followed the preachers, and exerted a powerful
influence over the minds of the great mass of the colonists. The
legal fraternity denied the charge of rebellion, and proved the
justice of the resistance of the Americans. A distinction founded on
law was drawn between the King and Parliament. They contended that
the King could do no wrong, and upon Parliament they charged the
crime of treason for using the royal name in connection with their
own unconstitutional measures. The phrase of a "ministerial war"
became common, and the colonists pledged loyalty to the crown until
the Declaration of Independence.

Lord North had scruples concerning harsh American measures which the
King did not possess, and, wearied with the dispute with the
Americans, showed symptoms of a disposition to make concessions. The
majority of the cabinet were as mad as the King, and when they found
North wavering they plotted to have him displaced to make room for a
more thorough supporter of British authority. On Jan. 12, 1775, at a
cabinet council, he found the current of opinion so much against him
that, ambitious of place and power, he yielded. His colleagues
declared there was nothing in the proceedings of Congress that
afforded any basis for an honorable reconciliation. It was
therefore resolved to break off all commerce with the Americans; to
protect the loyalists in the colonies; and to declare all others to
be traitors and rebels. The vote was designed only to divide the
colonies. It united them and kindled a war. There was, how-ever, a
strong minority in the British Parliament who were anxious for
reconciliation between Great Britain and her American colonies from
the beginning of the dispute. In the House of Commons, Edmund Burke
introduced a bill (Nov. 16, 1775) repealing all the offensive acts
and granting a amnesty as to the past, thus waving the points in
dispute. Burke supported the bill with one of his ablest speeches,
but it was rejected by a vote of two to one. On the contrary, a bill
was carried by the ministry (Dec. 21) prohibiting all trade with the
thirteen colonies, and declaring their ships and goods, and those of
all persons trafficking with them, lawful prize. The act also
authorized the impressment for service in the royal navy of the
crews of all captured colonial vessels; also the appointment of
commissioners by the crown, with authority to grant pardon and
exemption from the penalties of the act to such colonies or
individuals as might, by speedy submission, seem to merit that
favor. So the door of honorable reconciliation was closed.

The camp of the Continental army at Cambridge, when
George Washington took
command of it in July, 1775, presented a curious and somewhat
picturesque spectacle. There was no conformity in dress. The
volunteers from Rhode Island were lodged in tents, and had more the
appearance of regular troops than any of the others; others were
quartered in Harvard College buildings, the Episcopal church, and
private dwellings; and the fields were dotted with lodges of almost
every description, varying with the tastes of their occupants. Some
of them were constructed of boards, some of sail-cloth, and some
partly of both. There were huts of stone and sods, others of bushes,
while a few had regular doors and windows, constructed of withes and
reeds. To these the feminine relatives of the soldiers—mothers,
sisters, wives—were continually repairing with supplies of clothing
and gifts for comfort. With them came flocks of boys and girls from
the surrounding country, to gratify their curiosity and behold some
of the mysteries of war. Among the soldiers in the camp might be
seen eminent and eloquent ministers of the Gospel, acting as
chaplains, keeping alive the habit of daily prayer and of public
worship on the Sabbath. Having no sufficient force at home to send
for the subjugation of the colonies early in 1775, and as
mercenaries from the Continent could not be immediately pro-cured,
the King ordered Dunmore, governor of
Virginia, to arm negroes and
Indians, if necessary, to crush the rebellion in that colony. To
Dunmore 3,000 stand of arms, with 200 rounds of powder and ball for
each musket, together with four pieces of light artillery, were
instantly shipped. An order was also sent directly, in the King's
name, to Guy Johnson, agent among the
Six Nations, to seek immediate
assistance from the Iroquois Confederacy. "Lose no time," so ran the
order; " induce them to take up the hatchet against his Majesty's
rebellious subjects in America. It is a service of very great
importance; fail not to exert every effort that may tend to
accomplish it; use the utmost diligence and activity." Johnson was
promised an ample supply of arms and ammunition from
Quebec.

As early as the summer of 1776, intimations reached the Americans
that the British ministry had devised a grand scheme for dividing
the colonies, and so to effect their positive weakness and easy
conquest. It contemplated the seizure of the valleys of the
Hudson
River and Lake Champlain, and the establishment of a line of
military posts between the mouth of the Hudson and the river St.
Lawrence, and so, separating New England from the rest of the union,
easily accomplish the subjugation of the whole. To effect this,
English and German troops were sent both to the St. Lawrence and to
New York in the spring and summer of 1775. It was the grand aim of
the expedition of Burgoyne southward from the St. Lawrence in 1777.
To counteract this movement, the Americans cast up strong
fortifications in the Hudson Highlands, and kept their passes
guarded. It was in anticipation of such a scheme that the colonists
made the unsuccessful attempt to win Canada either by persuasion or
conquest. See CANADA.

When, in 1778, it was ascertained that there were hundreds of
American prisoners of war in England, enduring great sufferings for
want of the necessaries of life, a subscription was made by the
friends of the Americans in Great Britain, which speedily gave them
relief. At that time there were 900 of them suffering in British
prisons. A subscription started in London soon procured about
$2,000, which was more than sufficient to relieve the immediate
wants of the captives. These wants consisted chiefly in a lack of
sufficient clothing.

As the year 1780 drew to a close there were warm disputes in the
Pennsylvania regiments as to the terms on which the men had been
enlisted. The officers maintained that at least a quarter part of
the soldiers had enlisted for three years and the war. This seems to
have been the fact; but the soldiers, distressed and disgusted for
want of pay and clothing, and seeing the large bounties paid to
those who re-enlisted, declared that the enlistment was for three
years or the war. As the three years had now expired, they demanded
their discharges. It was re-fused, and on Jan. 1, 1781, the whole
line, 1,300 in number, broke out into open revolt. An officer
attempting to restrain them was killed and several others were
wounded. Under the leadership of a board of sergeants the men
marched towards Princeton, with the avowed purpose of going to
Philadelphia to demand of the Congress a fulfillment of their many
promises. General Wayne was in command of these troops, and was much
be-loved by them. By threats and persuasions he tried to bring them
back to duty until their real grievances should be re-dressed. They
would not listen to him; and when he cocked his pistol, in a
men-acing manner, they presented their bayonets to his breast,
saying, " We respect and love you ; you have often led us into the
field of battle; but we are no longer under your command; we warn
you to be on your guard; if you fire your pistol, or attempt to
enforce your commands, we shall put you instantly to death." Wayne
appealed to their patriotism; they pointed to the broken promises of
the Congress. He reminded them of the strength their conduct would
give to the enemy; they pointed to their tattered garments and
emaciated forms. They avowed their willingness to support the cause
of independence if adequate provision could be made for their
comfort; and they boldly re-iterated their determination to march to
Philadelphia, at all hazards, to demand from Congress a redress of
their grievances. Finding he could not move them, Wayne determined
to accompany them to Philadelphia. At Princeton they presented the
general with a written list of their demands. These demands appeared
so reasonable that he had them laid be-fore Congress. That body
appointed a committee to confer with the insurgents. The result was
a compliance with their demands, and the disbanding of a large part
of the Pennsylvania line, whose places were filled by new recruits.

When Sir Henry Clinton heard of the revolt of the Pennsylvania line,
mistaking the spirit of the mutineers, he dispatched two
emissaries—a British sergeant and a
New Jersey Tory named Ogden—to
the insurgents, with a written offer that, on laying down their arms
and marching to New York, they should receive their arrearages and
the amount of the depreciation of the Continental currency in hard
cash; that they should be well clothed, have a free pardon for all
past offences, and be taken under the protection of the British
government; that no military service should be required of them,
unless voluntarily offered. Sir Henry requested them to appoint
agents to treat with his, and adjust terms; and, not doubting the
success of his plans, he went to Staten Island himself, with a large
body of troops, to act as circumstances might require. Sir Henry
entirely misapprehended the temper of these mutineers. They felt
justified in using their power to obtain a redress of grievances,
but they looked with horror upon the armed oppressors of their
country, and they regarded the act and stain of treason, under any
circumstances, as worse than the infliction of death. Clinton's
proposals were rejected with disdain. " See, comrades," said one of
them, " he takes us for traitors; let us show him that the American
army can furnish but one Arnold, and that America has no truer
friends than we." They seized the emissaries, and delivered them,
with Clinton's papers, into the hands of Wayne, and they were tried,
condemned, and executed as spies. The reward which had been offered
for the apprehension of the offenders was tendered to the mutineers
who seized them. They sealed the pledge of their patriotism by nobly
refusing it, saying : "Necessity wrung from us the act of demanding
justice from Congress, but we desire no reward for doing our duty to
our bleeding country."

On January 18, 1781, a portion of the New Jersey line, stationed at
Pompton, followed the example of the Pennsylvanians, at
Morristown,
in refusing to serve longer unless their reasonable demands on
Congress were attended to. Washington, fearing the revolt, if so
mildly dealt with as it had been by Wayne, would become fatally
infectious and cause the army to melt away, took harsher measures to
sup-press it. He sent General Robert Howe, with 500 men, to restore
order at Pompton. They surrounded the camp and compelled the troops
to parade without arms. Two of the ringleaders were tried,
condemned, and immediately executed, when the remainder quietly
submitted. These events had a salutary effect, for they aroused the
Congress and the people to the necessity of more efficient measures
for the sup-port of the army, their only reliance in the struggle.
Taxes were more cheerfully paid; sectional jealousies were quelled;
a special agent (John Laurens) sent abroad to obtain loans was quite
successful, and a national bank was established in Philadelphia and
put in charge of Robert Morris, the superintendent of the treasury.

Count de Rochambeau received intelligence at the close of May, 1781,
that the Count de Grasse might be expected on the coast of the
United States with a powerful French fleet in July or August. This
news caused the French forces, which had lain idle at Newport many
months, to move immediately for the Hudson River, to form a junction
with the Continental army there under Washington. A part of them
moved on June 10, and the remainder immediately afterwards. They
formed a junction with the American army, near Dobb's Ferry, on the
Hudson, July 6. The Americans were encamped on Valentine's Hill, in
two lines, with the right wing resting on the Hudson River near the
ferry. The French army was stationed on the hills at the left, in a
single line, reaching from the Hudson to the Bronx River. There was
a valley of considerable extent between the two armies. The American
army had been encamped at Peekskill, and marched down to Valentine's
Hill on the morning of July 2.

In August, 1781, a French frigate, from the fleet of De Grasse in
the West Indies, brought word that he would sail directly for the
Chesapeake Bay. Already Washington had had his thoughts turned
towards a campaign of the allies against
Cornwallis in Virginia by a
letter from Lafayette, who had taken a position only 8 miles from
Yorktown. The marquis had plainly perceived the mistake of Clinton
in ordering Cornwallis to take a defensive position in Virginia. As
early as July he wrote to Washington from Randolph's, on Malvern
Hill, urging him to march into Virginia in force, saying, " Should a
French fleet enter Hampton Roads, the British army would be
compelled to surrender." Foiled in his plan of attacking New York,
Washington anxiously contemplated the chance of success in Virginia,
when his determination was fixed by a letter from Admiral de Barras
(the successor of Admiral Ternay, who had died at Newport), which
contained the news that De Grasse was to sail for the Chesapeake at
the close of August with a powerful fleet and more than 3,000 land
troops. De Barras wrote: " M. de Grasse is my junior; yet, as soon
as he is within reach, I will go to sea to put myself under his
orders." Washington at once made ample preparations for marching
into Virginia. To prevent any interference from Clinton, he wrote
deceptive letters to be intercepted, by which the baronet was made
to believe that the Americans still contemplated an attack upon New
York City. So satisfied was Clinton that such was Washington's
design, that, for nearly ten days after the allied armies had
crossed the Hudson (Aug. 23 and 24) and were marching through New
Jersey, he believed the movement to be only a feint to cover a
sudden descent upon the city with an overwhelming force. It was not
until Sept. 2 that he was satisfied that the allies were marching
against Cornwallis. On the arrival of a body of
Hessians at New
York, he had countermanded an order for the earl to send him troops,
and for this he was now thankful. On Sept. 5, while the allies were
encamped at Chester, Pa., Washington was informed that De Grasse had
entered Chesapeake Bay. In that event he saw a sure prophecy of
success. De Grasse had moored his fleet in Lynn Haven Bay, and so
barred the entrance to the York River against reinforcements for
Cornwallis. He had landed 3,000 troops on the peninsula, near old
Jamestown. Meanwhile De Barras had sailed for Newport with a fleet
convoying ten transports laden with ordnance for the
siege of
Yorktown. The British admiral, Graves, on hearing of the approach of
the French fleet, had sailed for the Chesapeake. De Grasse went out
to meet him, and on Sept. 5 they had a sharp engagement. The British
fleet was so shattered that it retired to New York, leaving De
Grasse master of the Chesapeake. When Clinton was assured that the
allies were bound for Virginia, he tried by military movements to
call them back. He menaced New Jersey; threatened to attack the
works in the Hudson Highlands ; and sent Arnold on a marauding
expedition into New England. But neither Clinton's men-aces nor
Arnold's atrocities stayed the on-ward march of the allies. They
made their way to Annapolis, and thence by water to the James River
in transports furnished by De Barras. From
Baltimore Washington,
accompanied by Rochambeau and the Marquis de Chastellux, visited his
home at Mount Vernon, from which he had been absent since June,
1775. There they remained two days, and then journeyed to
Williamsburg, where they arrived on the 14th. There the allies
rendezvoused, and prepared for the siege of Yorktown.

The defeat of Cornwallis seemed to prophesy speedy peace, yet
Washington wisely counseled ample preparations for carrying on the
war. He spent some time in Philadelphia in arranging plans for the
campaign of 1782. The Congress had al-ready (Oct. 1, 1781) called
upon the several States for $8,000,000, payable quarterly in specie
or commissary certificates, besides an additional outstanding
requisition. The States were requested to impose separate and
distinct taxes for their respective quotas of the sum of $8,000,000;
the taxes to be made payable to the loan-office commissioners, or to
federal collectors to be appointed by the superintendent of finance,
for whom was asked the same power possessed by the State collector.
At Washington's suggestion, a circular letter, containing an earnest
call for men and money, was sent to the executive of each of the
States; but the people were so much impoverished by the war and
exhausted by past efforts that the call was feebly responded to;
besides, the general expectations of peace furnished excuses for
backwardness.

Some Americans, led by Captain Wilmot, a brave and daring young
officer, were engaged in the duty of covering John's Island, near
Charleston, in September, 1782. He was always impatient of
in-action, and often crossed the narrow strait or river to harass
British foraging parties on the island. While on one of these
excursions, in company with
Kosciuszko, he fell into an ambuscade
and was killed. This, it is believed, was the last life sacrificed
in battle in the war.

The 25th of November was appointed for the evacuation of the city of
New York by the British. The latter claimed the right of occupation
until noon. Early in the morning Mrs. Day, who kept a boarding-house
in Murray Street, near the Hudson River, ran up the
American flag
upon a pole at the gable end of her house. Cunningham, the British
provost-marshal, hearing of it, sent an order for her to pull down
the flag. She refused, and at about 9 A.M. he went in person to
compel her to take it down. He was in full dress, in scarlet uniform
and powdered wig. She was sweeping at the door. He ordered her to
take down the flag. She refused. He seized the halyards to haul it
down himself, whereupon the spunky lady fell upon him with her
broom. She made the powder fly out of his wig and finally beat him
off. This was the last conflict of the war.

The successful Revolution made no sudden or violent change in the
laws or political institutions of the United States beyond casting
off the superintending power of Great Britain, and even that power
was replaced, to a limited extent, by the authority of Congress. The
most marked peculiarity of the change was the public recognition of
the theory of the equal rights of man. This theory was first
publicly promulgated by the first
Continental Congress in the
Declaration of Colonial Rights. It was reiterated in the
Declaration
of Independence, and was tacitly recognized as the foundation of all
the State governments. Yet, to a great extent, it remained a theory
only, for human slavery was fostered and defended, by which
4,000,000 of the people of the republic were absolutely deprived of
their natural rights, when the proclamation of President Lincoln
(Jan. 1, 1863) reduced the theory to practice, and made all men and
women within the United States absolutely free. In civil affairs,
colonial usages, in modified forms, were apparent. In Pennsylvania,
two persons from each county were to be chosen every seven years to
act as a " council of censors," with power to investigate all
branches of the Constitution. The constitution of New York
established a " council of revision," composed of the governor,
chancellor, and judges of the Supreme Court, to which were submitted
all bills about to pass into laws. If objected to by the council, a
majority of two-thirds in both branches of the legislature was
required to pass them. A " council of appointment" was also provided
for, consisting of sixteen Senators, to be annually elected by the
Assembly, four from each of the four senatorial districts into which
the State was at first divided. All nominations to office by the
governor required the sanction of this council. By the constitution
of Georgia all mechanics, even though destitute of pecuniary
qualifications, were entitled to vote by virtue of their trades; and
every person entitled to vote and failing to do so was subjected to
a fine of £5.

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